The United States has taken measures to respond to network espionage activities targeting American telecommunications companies related to China, according to national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Sullivan stated on Friday that the U.S. has responded to attacks such as “Salt Typhoon” and “Gold Typhoon”, sending a clear message to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the consequences if actions are taken to disrupt critical American infrastructure and how the U.S. will respond.
Last November, U.S. authorities revealed that hackers linked to China had infiltrated American telecommunications companies, intercepting surveillance data used by U.S. law enforcement agencies and stealing customer call records. The White House subsequently announced that the “Salt Typhoon” orchestrated by China’s massive network espionage activity had penetrated at least 8 American telecom providers to monitor high-level American political figures, as part of a broader campaign affecting cyberattacks in dozens of countries worldwide.
Senator Mark Warner, a senior member of the U.S. Senate, described China’s espionage activities as the “most serious telecommunications hack attack in American history.” Warner stressed the importance for the American people to understand the severity of the infiltration. Comparing the “Salt Typhoon” attack on telecom companies to Russian hackers targeting the Colonial Pipeline and SolarWinds as “child’s play”, he emphasized China’s relentless efforts to infiltrate telecommunications systems globally and steal vast amounts of data.
Warner, who recently chaired the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee in the 118th Congress, concluded that the United States must take stronger countermeasures against cyber attackers. Mike Waltz, the successor to Sullivan and a national security adviser appointed by former President Trump, urged a more proactive approach in cybersecurity. Waltz pointed out the inability of the U.S. to sustain a purely defensive stance in cybersecurity, stating the necessity to take offensive actions to make those stealing American technology and attacking infrastructure pay the price.